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New Short Course Kicks Off with Bhat Keynote Address

The three primary short course instructors

CTR/D-STOP announces the creation of a short course on activity-based modeling of transport network demand and performance, organized in partnership with Georgia Tech and and The University of California at Santa Barbara. An inaugural one-day version of this course will be offered in Kolkata, India, on December 17th, as part of the Third Conference of the Transportation Research Group (CTRG) of India—an event co-sponsored by TRB. A similar course will be offered in Austin, followed by another tentatively planned five-day course in Berlin in the summer of 2016. Additional offerings in the Middle East, Australia, South America, Asia, and North America are under development for the subsequent academic year.

The course directors are Professors Chandra R. Bhat (CTR/D-STOP, University of Texas at Austin), Ram M. Pendyala (Georgia Tech), and Konstadinos G. Goulias (University of California at Santa Barbara). All of the instructors have extensive experience in agent-based modeling of human movements and dynamic network analysis, and have been pioneers in the development of concepts and methods that are now widely adopted around the world. The course is designed for researchers interested in learning about cutting edge travel modeling methods founded in strong behavioral theories, and practitioners (from consulting, local, state, and federal planning agencies, and transit agencies) interested in learning about a flexible and practical suite of modeling tools that may be used to analyze the impacts of a variety of technology, pricing, and land-use policies to better plan, invest, design, and manage transportation systems. Attendees are expected to have a basic knowledge of transportation analysis methods and mathematical modeling techniques.

Chandra Bhat, director of CTR and D-STOP, is providing the keynote address at the CTRG event, in coordination with the inaugural course offering. His address will focus on the Big Data view of the transportation world, in which a whole host of equipment can act as sensors—legacy roadway systems, smart phones and GPS systems, and smart cars themselves. The presentation will discuss the exciting possibilities, some pathways forward in terms of methods, and the research challenges in the emerging landscape of Big Data applications for the transportation field. This will include a summary discussion of the activities being undertaken as part of D-STOP’s research, workforce development, and tech transfer initiatives.